“Wag the Puppy”

New Twist In
Media War

by Norman Solomon

Dissident Voice

August
22, 2002

Some people are suspicious that President Bush will go for a
"wag the dog" strategy -- boosting Republican prospects with a
military assault on Iraq shortly before Election Day. But a modified approach
now seems to be underway. Let's call it "wag the

puppy."

After a number of GOP luminaries blasted his
administration's war scenarios, Bush claimed to appreciate "a healthy
debate." The president offered assurances that he would consult with
Congress rather than take sudden action. But his handlers were simply adapting
to circumstances that probably make it impractical for the Pentagon to kill a
lot of Iraqis prior to Nov. 5.

Before initiating vast new carnage abroad, the White House
wants its propaganda siege to take hold at home. Countless hours of airtime and
huge vats of ink are needed to do the trick. Like safecrackers trying first one
combination and then another, the Bush team will continue to twirl the media
dials till their war-making rationales click.

The most widely publicized critics of attacking Iraq are
hardly inclined to withstand the hot rhetorical winds that would accompany the
first U.S. missile strikes. Objections from the likes of Dick Armey and Brent
Scowcroft are apt to swiftly morph into pseudo-patriotic deference if Bush
gives the order for the initial terrorizing launch of missiles against Iraqi
cities. And history gives the president ample reasons to believe that most
hand-wringing punditry will turn into applause when the Pentagon

begins its slaughter.

Delaying war is very different than preventing it. In fact,
many of the arguments marshaled in the mainstream media against a precipitous
attack on Iraq appear to be accepting the need for the U.S. government to
afflict that country with massive violence. Whether on Capitol Hill or in media
venues, most of the criticism seems largely concerned with style, timing and
tactics.

Quite a bit of flak has also come from pro-war commentators
who want Bush to get his militaristic act together. The bloodthirsty editor of
The Atlantic magazine, Michael Kelly, used his Aug. 21 column on The Washington
Post's op-ed page to lament "the president's refusal to wage a
coherent campaign to win public -- and, let's force the issue, congressional --
approval for the war."

While President Bush huddled with hawks at the top of the
pecking order in Crawford, war enthusiasts were on the offensive across the
nation's media landscape. Their efforts were adding to a sustained volume of
valuable news coverage. The mid-summer media focus on Iraq has offered tangible
benefits for Shrub's party -- including real progress in changing the subject.

The more that Iraq dominates front pages, magazine covers,
news broadcasts and cable channels, the less space there is for such matters as
the intensifying retirement worries of many Americans, the Wall Street
scandals, and specific stories about entanglements that link Bush or Dick Cheney
with malodorous corporate firms like Enron, Harken and Halliburton.

In August, the "healthy debate" over Iraq has
displaced a range of negative economic stories from the top of the news. Bush's
advisers would hardly mind if a similar pattern held through early November.

For the next couple of months, the president has domestic
political incentives to keep "wagging the puppy" while floating a variety
of unsubstantiated claims -- like references to wispy dots that implausibly
connect the Iraqi dictatorship and al Qaeda.

Meanwhile, sending more ships and aircraft to the Persian
Gulf region can be calculated to evoke plenty of televised support-our-troops
spectacles. With Old Glory in the background as tearful good-byes are exchanged
at U.S. military ports and bases, how many politicians or journalists will
challenge the manipulative tactics of the commander-in-chief?

Even if the White House doesn't sic the Pentagon on Iraqi
people before the November elections, its efforts to boost pre-war fever
between now and then could have enormous media impacts with big dividends at
the polls. This fall, our country may see something short of a "wag the
dog" extravaganza provided by leading officials of the Bush
administration. But unless we can stop them, the full-grown dogs of war are not
far behind.

Norman
Solomon's latest book is "The Habits of Highly
Deceptive Media." His syndicated column focuses on media and politics.